jakeyjangels Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 Hi All, I am wanting other DOLer's especially Kelpie owners, opinions on this situation. Our next door neighbours have an approximately 9 month old female Kelpie X BC which from having lived on a farm all my childhood with Kelpie working dogs, appears to be more Kelpie than BC. Anyway, because her & my Lab Jangels bonded from day 1, they have play dates 3 - 4 days a week mainly in our backyard for about an hour each visit. She is a lovely sweet girl, but you cannot eat in front of her as she jumps up & tries to grab out of my hand or plate whatever I am eating. It is so annoying. My husband thinks it is because she is not fed enough. To me she is perfect health & weight. So is this just a Kelpie thing or is it lack of manners/obedience ? I feel uncomfortable discipling someone's else's dog I have conveyed my concerns to her owners but so far there is no change in behaviour Thank you in advance for your thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelpiekaye Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 (edited) Hi All, I am wanting other DOLer's especially Kelpie owners, opinions on this situation. Our next door neighbours have an approximately 9 month old female Kelpie X BC which from having lived on a farm all my childhood with Kelpie working dogs, appears to be more Kelpie than BC. Anyway, because her & my Lab Jangels bonded from day 1, they have play dates 3 - 4 days a week mainly in our backyard for about an hour each visit. She is a lovely sweet girl, but you cannot eat in front of her as she jumps up & tries to grab out of my hand or plate whatever I am eating. It is so annoying. My husband thinks it is because she is not fed enough. To me she is perfect health & weight. So is this just a Kelpie thing or is it lack of manners/obedience ? I feel uncomfortable discipling someone's else's dog I have conveyed my concerns to her owners but so far there is no change in behaviour Thank you in advance for your thoughts. It is lack of training, the owners must see this as acceptable behaviour or they can't be bothered/don't know what to do about it.. Its not something I would accept from any of my dogs Kelpie or not. Edited May 27, 2011 by kelpiekaye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavik Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 It is just a lack of manners. Kelpies are active and often fairly driven dogs (food and prey) but that doesn't mean they can't behave in the presence of food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 agreed- she is a teen and needs work/training/direction. Not a hunger thing, or really a kelpie thing ...just a DOG thing , I think ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisovar Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 It is an untrained dog thing. If the owners cannot or will not get a handle on it then that is their problem as for your issue with it then I would simply not eat in front of the dog when it is visiting your house, or put it outside when you do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilly Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 (edited) The dog has probably been handed food and not corrected for snatching. Depends what you want to do about it ... an hours isn't long but you could discuss with the owner about helping train the dog (if the owners agree) ... or just not eat when the dog is visiting. When my boys get fed they have to go to their places and only then do they get their food. So if you wanted to work on training the dog you could start by trying to teach the dog a "place" command ... maybe a mat or a bed. Edited May 28, 2011 by Tilly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tisha'sMummy Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 When I adopted my kelpie cross 4 months ago, aged 13 months, she did this. Didn;t take her long to learn. Not hunger for sure. Just a training issue. If the dog is a regular visitor to your place, then I believe you have every right to train the dog to your manners (just like a child who regularly visited would be informed of your rules) Training is a pleasant thing for a dog, it is not punishment, so I would not hesitate. If the neighbour objects, well, you can only deal with that once they voice their concerns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koalathebear Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 So is this just a Kelpie thing or is it lack of manners/obedience ? I'd be very surprised if food-snatching was ever a breed-specific trait or if it was, you'd find anyone on this board saying it. What you've mentioned is definitely a training issue. As for my own personal experience, I have a Kelpie/Border Collie cross and Kelpie and both wait for their food and do not tend to ask for food from strangers although they will eat it if offered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlet Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 Is your neighbour with you when both dogs play? If she is then it is difficult and I just wouldn't eat while they were there but if she isn't there ask her if she would mind you teaching the dog not to jump on you when you are eating. I do think it's reasonable to firmly tell the dog no if he is jumping on you even if the neighbour is there. I would find this reasonable. If I'm minding dogs (or children)I treat them like mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeyjangels Posted May 29, 2011 Author Share Posted May 29, 2011 Is your neighbour with you when both dogs play? If she is then it is difficult and I just wouldn't eat while they were there but if she isn't there ask her if she would mind you teaching the dog not to jump on you when you are eating. I do think it's reasonable to firmly tell the dog no if he is jumping on you even if the neighbour is there. I would find this reasonable. If I'm minding dogs (or children)I treat them like mine. Thanks for your reply Scarlet. No my neighbour isn't here at playtime. I think she watches out the window though And I try not to eat in front of the dogs at all but that is hard not to do sometimes as I need to eat something before I start work at lunchtime & I have to be there with the dogs supervising our 11 week old Lab Louis playing with Jangels & the neighbours dog. Now that my thoughts on this behaviour have been confirmed I intend to be firm with her in the future & hopefully teach her some manners :D . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeyjangels Posted May 29, 2011 Author Share Posted May 29, 2011 Thank you everyone for your replies. Time to be firm & at the least teach her some manners whilst in my backyard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greytmate Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 If somebody allowed their dog to jump on me while eating, they wouldn't get to choose whether I taught their dog that I will not accept that behaviour. They would only get to choose whether to bring their dog near me or not. I wouldn't feel any obligation to teach the dog not to do it to other people, but I would make the dog understand that it was not worth the risk of coming too close to my food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussielover Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 How annoying! It is definitely a training issue, although if any breed would be predisposed to this, it would be the food-loving lab! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeyjangels Posted May 29, 2011 Author Share Posted May 29, 2011 How annoying! It is definitely a training issue, although if any breed would be predisposed to this, it would be the food-loving lab! Have to agree aussielover :D And I have 2 of them & neither would even think of doing this . Apparently this dog jumps up at their kitchen bench & grabs food Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chezy Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 (edited) I think if you show that you don't allow this it will learn not to do it to you , my girl knows the ppl that she can wrap round her paw and get away with stuff and the ones that don't . Don't think it is bad for you to teach it to behave while with you . Edited May 29, 2011 by Chezy & Chopper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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